The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reported Williams was first hospitalized on Aug. 30. The cause of his illness has not been released.

Williams ended up in the hospital less than two weeks after he was involved in the high profile case of Shaquan Duley, a mother charged with murder. Investigators say she suffocated her two young sons, then rolled her car into a river to try to cover up the crime.

Williams was elected sheriff in 2000 after spending more than two decades in law enforcement.